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I am coding and have some elements in a list. Now I want to move a couple of elements so they appear before.

So form [a, b, c, d, e, this, that] i want "this" and "that" to show before: [a, this, that, b, c, d, e].

I want to explain this and wonder if 'move earlier in the list' is an appropriate way to use 'earlier'.

I know early stands for near the beginning of a period of time, an event etc., and earlier is its comparative, but I don't know if a situation of 'positioning' works here. If not, what good alternatives can I use for this?

Note I can say 'move elements to the left', but seems a bit too specific and, for example, wouldn't work if in a right-to-left writing context.

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  • While I'm not a coder, I don't think that earlier works in this context. The expressions that come to mind are: Move x to precede y or move x ahead of y. Possibly Move X to place it between Y and Z, although this is a bit wordy.
    – Ronald Sole
    Commented Oct 30, 2020 at 15:03
  • @RonaldSole thanks. The fact of this being about code shouldn't matter. It is just about moving some elements so they appear before than they used to.
    – fedorqui
    Commented Oct 30, 2020 at 15:04

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"Earlier" works well for me. But also "up" the list is towards the first item (and down is towards the end).

Move "this" and "that" [up] [earlier in] the list so they are between "a" and "b".

"Left" and "right" are less clear (but not because of right-to-left writing (English is strictly left-to-right), but because English is also a spoken language and there is no left and right in speech.)

"Forward" and "backward" might sometimes be used, but these could cause confusion: is "forward" towards the start or towards the end. I would avoid these.

This could also apply the lists and list-like structures found in computer languages.

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    For me earlier works best in the computer context because I think of up as being movement in a tree structure not necessarily a general list.
    – mdewey
    Commented Oct 30, 2020 at 15:35

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